The Maine Black Bears put eight players in the scoring column on Wednesday night, with five of them finishing in double figures helping to upset the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks 75-70 in America East men’s basketball action at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
The two teams would swap leads over the first four minutes or so of the first half. Maine would eventually build a 21-15 advantage on a three-pointer by Jaden Clayton, before back to back layups by Connor Withers and Cam Morris III for UMass-Lowell sliced it to a two point deficit. The Black Bears then went on a 9-0 run capped off by a short jumper by Ata Turgut to take what was the biggest lead of the game 30-19. The Riverhawks would come right back with six points in a row by Brayden O’Connor who nailed a three-pointer, and then got fouled by Lechaun DuHart shooting another three and hit all three free throws. Kristians Feierbergs answered with a three-pointer of his own for the hosts just over a minute later to restore an eight point lead, and Maine held a 37-33 lead at halftime.
UMass-Lowell jumped back in front by a point running off the first five points of the second half on a three-pointer by Allin Blunt and a jumper from Abdoul Karim Coulibaly. Maine regained the lead on a three-pointer by Feierbergs, before the Riverhawks would see their last lead at 51-50 on a layup by Morris III with 11:02 left to play. That lead didn’t last long, as Clayton hit a turnaround jumper in the paint 12 seconds later to push the Black Bears on top for good. The biggest shot of the game may of been with just under two minutes left and Maine up by five. As the shot clock was running out, a pass to the top of the key was fumbled by Gedi Juozapaitis but he was able to gain control and hit a running bank shot down the right side of the lane just as the shot clock buzzer sounded. They would seal the victory in the final 35 seconds with 5-6 from the line from Kellen Tynes, Peter Filipovity, and Clayton.
Feierbergs led all scorers with 18 points in the win on a 7-8 effort from the floor that included 4-4 from the three-point line. Tynes filled up the stat sheet with 13 points, three rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks. Clayton finished with 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Filipovity and Juozapaitis rounded out the double digit scorers for the Black Bears with 11 and 10 points respectively, as they see their record improve to 8-12 and 2-5 in America East. Coulibaly led UMass-Lowell in the loss with 16 points and eight rebounds. Everette Hammond added 14 points, and Blunt had 10 as the Riverhawks who came in as the top team in the conference fall to 17-5 and 5-3. UML had recent wins over both Bryant and Vermont and were ranked #24 in the most recent mid-major poll. Maine returns to action on Saturday on the road at 7 p.m. as they visit Albany to take on the Great Danes.
Recap by Chris Lessner
UML (17-5, 5-3) 33 37- 70
UME (8-12, 2-5) 37 38- 75
Rebounds- UML 36, Maine 27
Turnovers- UML 17, Maine 13
Free throws- UML 16-21, Maine 17-22
Three-pointers- UML: Hammond 2, Blunt 2, O’Connor, Hikim/ Maine: Feierbergs 4, Juozapaitis, Clayton
Maine guard Jaden Clayton (#3 in white) looks to make a play in a game earlier this season against Columbia in Orono. Clayton was one of five players in double figures on Wednesday night in helping the Black Bears upset UMass-Lowell in Bangor. Photo by Chris Lessner
